Lower steel prices and margins saw Tata Steel report a drop of about 50 per cent in its net profit at Rs 903 crore for the second quarter of 2009-10 against Rs. 1,788 crore in the same period last year. The figures are on a stand-alone basis excluding Tata Steel UK. The company’s net sales dropped to Rs. 5,629.80 crore (Rs 6,725.90 crore) in the same period. The company will announce the consolidated results, which will include Tata Steel UK, for the second quarter of 2009-10 by end-November
Clearly the company was impacted by lower prices as both production and sales were higher during the said quarter. The company produced 1.52 million tonnes (1.33 million tonnes) and the sales volume was up 20 per cent to 1.46 million tonnes from 1.22 million tonnes.
The export turnover too halved to Rs. 515 crore (Rs. 1,086 crore). The operating profit was down 40 per cent at Rs. 1,666 crore (Rs. 2,931.6 crore) while net finance charges were up at Rs. 392 crore (Rs. 255 crore) and tax expense was at Rs. 447 crore (Rs. 785 crore). For the half year ended September 2009, Tata Steel reported a drop of 45 per cent in the net profit at Rs. 1,693 crore (Rs. 3,276 crore) on net sales of Rs. 11,184 crore (Rs. 12,813 crore).
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